Shaun White celebrates after his first run in the men's halfpipe competition at the Vancouver 2010 games. Photograph: Alamy

The perfect 100 score

He may be the best snowboarder in the world but even Shaun White seemed to surpass himself at the X Games in 2012, when he became the first person in the history of the superpipe event to gain a perfect 100 score. Of course, for White, who has won 13 gold medals at the X Games across the slopestyle and superpipe events since 2003, this was just another day at the office; he was nursing a sprained ankle at the time.

Gold number two in 2012: slopestyle

One of the things that makes White so remarkable is his ability to rip it up whatever event he's competing at. This video shows White taking his second gold medal at the 2012 X Games for slopestyle – with scores of 95 and 97 in his respective runs.

Olympic debut: halfpipe

At 19, White made his Olympic debut competing in the halfpipe event at the 2006 Turin Games. Performing back-to-back 1080 airs and taking gold. It was the moment White went from being a hero among the skate and snowboard world to becoming an household name.

Getting radical: preparing for Vancouver

In 2009, in the run up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, White trained in secret. With the help of Red Bull, who built him a gigantic halfpipe in the Colorado backcountry, White worked on putting together radical new tricks, including practising his now-signature 1260 double McTwist, which he would debut at Vancouver. Even building the halfpipe was extreme: engineers had to repeatedly bomb the mountain to trigger avalanches so the snow would be deep enough to make it.

Rip it up: promise at an early age

As you would imagine, even as a young sprog White would absolutely tear it up on the slopes. In this rare footage shot as part of the Kids Who Rip series, you can watch a 10-year-old White demonstrating his moves with the same style he demonstrates today. With his red hair bobbing all over the place, you can see how he ended up with the nickname the Flying Tomato.